UT Austin · Est. 2025 · Interdisciplinary Research

Texas Research Association

Texas Research Association (TRA) is a multidisciplinary research organization aimed on advancing the intersection of science and technology with the goal of publishing in national and international journals and conferences.

Apply to TRA → Explore Research
About TRA

Research that crosses
every boundary

The research clubs are kind of siloed. You join one, you stick with one. TRA is not like that. We take people from CS, pre-med, physics, biology, and put them on the same team to work on the same problem. We started this because the most interesting work happens on the edge. The people who end up doing something new are the people who refused to specialize too early. You don't need to be a research person to be part of this. You just need to be curious, be willing to read things that are hard, and be willing to not know the answer.

01 Mentored from day one
02 Work across fields, freely
03 We ship real work
Structure
Mentored from
day one
You'll be working alongside stream leads and mentors who have been working in these areas before. You'll be part of a team of experts that figures this out together with you.
mentor you you you you you you
Freedom
Work across
fields, freely
You're not locked into doing this in just one area. TRA offers the freedom to explore research in many areas such as: computational biology, AI in medicine, quantum systems.
AI Quantum Biology You
Output
We ship
real work
Our goal is to build research into reality by creating papers, models, demos — and TRA allows you to build things that are real and publishable.
Pub. TRA
How TRA Works

From application
to publication

Apply & Interview
Apply to be a researcher through our website in the fall cycle.
01
02
Join a Stream
During your application, you will apply to a stream based on your interests. You will be led under a mentor to conduct research.
Do Real Research
Read papers, run experiments, and write code! You will contribute to real research with your mentor throughout the year.
03
04
Show Your Work
You will leave with something concrete through at least one of these venues: paper submissions, conferences, or public demos.
2025–26 Research Streams

Where we're starting.
Not where we're stopping.

2025–26 · Stream 01
|0⟩ |1⟩
Quantum AI

Designing noise-resilient quantum circuits using multi-objective evolutionary architecture search for NISQ hardware.

QASBarren PlateausVQENISQNoise-Resilient Circuits
2025–26 · Stream 02
Medical AI

Develops an AI model that predicts real-time organ viability during transport by identifying when an organ is at risk of decline enabling faster decision-making and optimized routing for transplant teams.

Time-Series MLOrgan ViabilityClinical Decision SupportTransplant Logistics
2025–26 · Stream 03
Biology

Investigating genetic mutations in epithelial ovarian cells, proteins, and protein regulators to understand their effects on ovarian cancer via data analysis.

TP53ApoptosisGranulosa CellsOvarian CancerGene Expression
Coming 2026–27
New Stream

TRA adds a new research stream every year as the club grows. If you have an idea for what it should be, we want to hear it.

Skills You'll Build

Leave with more than
a line on your résumé

Foundation
Research
Methodology
Read and synthesize papers, design experiments, and understand what separates rigorous science from interesting speculation.
Hands-on
Technical
Implementation
Write real code, build models, and ship things that actually run — not just slides.
Analytical
Data Analysis
& Stats
Make sense of messy data and know when your results actually mean something.
Communication
Scientific
Writing
Turn your work into papers, abstracts, and reports people can actually read.
People
Collaboration
& Leadership
Work across disciplines, lead a workstream, and figure out how to move a team forward when things are ambiguous — which they always are in research.
The Team

The people behind
the research

Aahan Shah
Aahan Shah
President & Co-Lead
Quantum AI
Armaan Sharma
Armaan Sharma
Co-Lead
Quantum AI
Vaibhavi Kothakonda
Vaibhavi Kothakonda
Co-Lead
Biology
Sadhvi Reddy
Sadhvi Reddy
Co-Lead
Biology
Shubhika Singh
Shubhika Singh
Co-Lead
Medical AI
RS
Roshan Shah
Co-Lead
Medical AI
Join TRA

Ready to do something
real?

Open to any UT Austin undergrad. You don't need to have done research before, you just need to actually want to.

Apply Now → Learn More